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Arts & Culture
November 27, 2025
Courtauld to Embark on £82m Campus Project at Somerset House in London

The Courtauld has unveiled an £82m campus redevelopment it is calling a “once-in-a-generation transformation” of its Grade-I listed building, Somerset House, in London. The Stirling prize-winning architects Witherford Watson Mann will take charge of the four-year project at the teaching and research centre and public gallery, which follows their 2021 revamp of the Courtauld Gallery space. The Courtauld Institute of Art is an independent college of the University of London, focusing on the teaching and research of art history. The overhaul of the Courtauld’s teaching spaces is being paid for by donations, including a record £30m from the Reuben Foundation, and from the Blavatnik Family Foundation, which gave £10m to the gallery in 2020.

Arts & Culture
November 27, 2025
Courtauld Announces Plans for New World Class Campus

Today, the Courtauld is delighted to announce plans to create a new world-class campus at Somerset House in London, a major development which will strengthen our position as a leading global centre for the visual arts.  The Courtauld, founded in 1932 by philanthropist and collector Samuel Courtauld, is an internationally renowned centre for the teaching and research of art history, conservation and curation, and is home to one of the world’s greatest art collections. As the Courtauld approaches its centenary, this next milestone in our history will see a once-in-a-generation transformation of our historic Grade I listed building at Somerset House, creating a flexible, state-of-the-art campus and securing the Courtauld’s legacy for the next 100 years. The new campus project is made possible through the recent visionary gift from the Reuben Foundation and the generous long-standing support of the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Additional transformational support is provided by the Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation, the Clore Duffield Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation, Oak Foundation, The Julia Rausing Trust, Rothschild Foundation, Georgia and David Winter and the Wolfson Foundation. The Courtauld is most grateful to these foundational supporters, alongside others who have already committed to the redevelopment of our home at Somerset House.

Arts & Culture
November 13, 2025
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Will Open Its 2025 Holiday Season With December Gala

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will open its 2025 holiday season with an Opening Night Gala on Wednesday, December 3 at 7 p.m., marking the first season under Artistic Director Alicia Graf Mack. The event begins with a special program at New York City Center and continues with a dinner and celebration at the Ziegfeld Ballroom. The Gala will honor Daria L. Wallach, chair of the AILEY Board of Trustees, recognizing her leadership and contributions to the organization. Proceeds from the Gala support the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, including new work development, scholarships at The Ailey School, and AILEY’s educational programs. Event co-chairs are Jody & John Arnhold, Emily & Len Blavatnik, Jack Pitts, Eric J. Wallach, Joan & Sandy Weill, and Pamela D. Zilly & John H. Schaefer, with vice chairs Anthony S. Kendall and Anthony A. Lewis.

Arts & Culture
November 12, 2025
Public Adds Seagull: True Story to Spring 2026 Slate

Off-Broadway's Public has added Eli Rarey and Alexander Molochnikov's Seagull: True Story to its season, with performances slated to begin in LuEsther Hall March 22 ahead of a March 30 opening night. The limited run will continue through April 26. Supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the production fuses autobiographical drama and biting political satire with classic Chekhovian themes. Tickets go on sale for Public Partner and Supporter Plus-level subscribers December 3, with Supporter-level tickets going on sale December 5. Single tickets will be available beginning December 17.

Arts & Culture
November 4, 2025
“A More Perfect Union,” A New PBS Special, to Premiere on November 24, 2025

A MORE PERFECT UNION: INSPIRING CIVIC & CIVIL CONVERSATIONS ACROSS AMERICA, a new one-hour special exploring the themes of liberty, equality, and democracy, will premiere on November 24 at 9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS. It will also stream at PBS.org and on the PBS App. Following the week-long premiere of Burns’s film, THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (PBS, November 16-21), the special includes clips from the documentary focused on the founding era and the politics and ideas of the period, with a broader discussion about how the founders thought about executive and legislative power and the role of the judiciary. Corporate funding for THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION was provided by Bank of America. Major funding was provided by The Better Angels Society and its members Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine with the Crimson Lion Foundation; and the Blavatnik Family Foundation.

Arts & Culture
November 4, 2025
The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Announces Helen Garner as the 2025 Winner

How to End a Story: Collected Diaries by Helen Garner is tonight named winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2025. The winner was announced by Chair of Judges, Robbie Millen, at a ceremony hosted at BMA House in London, UK, and generously supported by The Blavatnik Family Foundation. The announcement was streamed to readers around the world via the Baillie Gifford Prize social media channels. How to End a Story is a volume of Garner’s inimitable diary entries, from the early stages of her career in bohemian Melbourne, publishing her debut novel while raising a young daughter in the 1970s; the throes of an all-consuming love affair in the 1980s; and clinging to a disintegrating marriage in the 1990s. Told with devastating honesty, steel-sharp wit and an ecstatic attention to the details of everyday life, this year’s Baillie Gifford Prize-winning book reveals the inner life of a woman in love, a mother, a friend and a formidable writer at work. The ceremony was sponsored by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and held at BMA House.

Arts & Culture
October 8, 2025
What We Learned Filming The American Revolution

The co-directors of the new PBS series, Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, describe how they made a documentary about a war distant in time and shrouded in myth. On June 24, 1778, a total solar eclipse covered a wide swath of North America—from the Pacific Coast of Mexico to Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The eclipse occurred just a few days before the Battle of Monmouth, when George Washington’s Continental Army engaged General Sir Henry Clinton’s British Army—a standoff that nevertheless allowed the Patriots to claim a much-needed victory. The British, meanwhile, continued their retreat from Philadelphia to New York City. We wanted to depict this eclipse for our series The American Revolution, and in this we had a stroke of luck: There would be a total solar eclipse across much of North America on April 8, 2024.

Arts & Culture
October 2, 2025
The Baillie Gifford Prize Announces 2025 Shortlist

Jason Burke, Helen Garner, Richard Holmes, Justin Marozzi, Adam Weymouth and Frances Wilson have today (Thursday 2 October 2025) been announced as the six authors shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2025. The prize recognises and rewards the best of non-fiction and is open to authors of any nationality. It covers all non-fiction in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. The winning author will receive £50,000, with the other shortlisted authors receiving £5,000, bringing the total prize value to £75,000. The shortlisted authors will be interviewed on The Baillie Gifford Prize Read Smart podcast, generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. All previous episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud.

Arts & Culture
September 29, 2025
Ken Burns: For America’s Next Story, Look Back to the Revolution

President Trump’s threats to democracy have prompted a number of experts to warn that the United States is in the midst of a constitutional crisis. As the country grapples with how to move forward, David Leonhardt looks back to America’s founding, with the filmmaker Ken Burns. Burns’s upcoming documentary focuses on the Revolutionary War, and in this conversation he discusses the ideals of the country’s flawed founders, how he thinks about patriotism and what he says is the “greatest existential threat to the existence of the United States right now.”

Arts & Culture
September 18, 2025
Ken Burns: The American Revolution is the Key to How We Survive

Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns joins Morning Joe to discuss his new docuseries, "The American Revolution," which will premiere on PBS on November 16, 2025. Burns, along with Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, produced and directed the documentary. The Blavatnik Family Foundation has been a long-time supporter of Ken Burns and The Better Angels Society.

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